Systems and methods for reducing disruptions in recorded programming

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments reduce disruptions in recorded programming, by automatically recording retransmissions of prior programming. In one embodiment, a recording manager is provided for execution on a receiving device, such as a set-top box. The recording manager detects a disruption in a recorded program. In response, the recording manager automatically records, or schedules a recording of, a later transmission of the same program. This abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract, and it is submitted with the intention that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technical field relates to reducing disruptions in recordedprogramming and more particularly, to apparatus, systems, and methodsfor detecting a disruption in a recorded program, and in response,automatically initiating a recording of a retransmission of the programoccurring at a later time.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In one embodiment, a method for recording a retransmission of a priorprogram is provided. The method includes: recording a program as a firstrecording; detecting a disruption in the program recorded as the firstrecording; storing an indication of the disruption of the programrecorded as the first recording; recording a rebroadcast of the programas a second recording in response to the stored indication of thedisruption of the first recording, the rebroadcast occurring at a secondtime that is later than the first time; and outputting content of one ofthe first recording or the second recording, based at least in part onthe input selection received from a user.

In another embodiment, a receiving configured to record a retransmissionof a prior program is provided. The set-top box includes a processorconfigured to: record, at a first time, a program as a first recording;detect a disruption in the program recorded as the first recording; inresponse to detecting the disruption, determine a rebroadcast of theprogram, the rebroadcast occurring at a second time that is later thanthe first time; and record, at the second time, the program as a secondrecording; and output program content of one of the first recording orthe second recording, based at least in part on a selection receivedfrom a user.

In another embodiment, a computer-readable medium is provided, thecomputer-readable medium including contents that enable a receivingdevice to record a retransmission of a prior program. The contents, whenexecuted, perform a method comprising: initiating recording of a firsttransmission of a program, the first transmission of the programoccurring at a first time and recorded as a first recording; detecting adisruption in the program recorded as the first recording; and inresponse to the detected disruption in the program recorded as the firstrecording, determining a second transmission of the program, the secondtransmission occurring at a second time that is after the first time;and initiating recording of at least some of the second transmission ofthe program as a second recording.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale relative toeach other. Like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example content distributionenvironment in which embodiments of a recording manager may beimplemented.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating example functional elements of anexample embodiment.

FIGS. 3A-3C are block diagrams illustrating example user interfaces of,and program information used in, example embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a computing system for practicing exampleembodiments of a recording manager.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of an example recording manager processprovided by one example embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example recording manager processprovided by another example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A. Environment Overview

FIG. 1 is an overview block diagram illustrating an example contentdistribution environment 102 in which embodiments of a recording manager100 may be implemented. The recording manager is operable toautomatically record a retransmission of a previously transmittedprogram (the “prior program”) during which a disruption, such as asignal outage, occurred. In this example, the recording manager 100operates upon a receiving device 118 and is configured to detect adisruption in a recorded program, and in response, automatically recorda later transmission of the same program. The recording manager 100 thennotifies a user of the disruption, and provides the user with an optionto view the recording of the later transmission of the program. Usingsuch techniques, the recording manager 100 can improve the user'sexperience by reducing disruptions perceived by the user when viewingrecorded programs. Before providing additional details regarding theoperation and constitution of the recording manager 100, the contentdistribution environment 102 of the recording manager 100 will brieflybe described.

In the content distribution environment 102, audio, video, and/or dataservice providers, such as, but not limited to, television serviceproviders, provide their customers a multitude of audio/video and/ordata programming (hereafter, collectively and/or exclusively“programming”). Such programming is often provided by use of a receivingdevice 118 communicatively coupled to a presentation device 120configured to receive the programming.

The receiving device 118 interconnects to one or more communicationsmedia or sources (such as a cable head-end, satellite antenna, telephonecompany switch, Ethernet portal, off-air antenna, or the like) thatprovide the programming. The receiving device 118 commonly receives aplurality of programming by way of the communications media or sourcesdescribed in greater detail below. Based upon selection by a user, thereceiving device 118 processes and communicates the selected programmingto the presentation device 120.

For convenience, the receiving device 118 may be interchangeablyreferred to as a “television converter,” “receiver,” “set-top box,”“television receiving device,” “television receiver,” “televisionrecording device,” “satellite set-top box,” “satellite receiver,” “cableset-top box,” “cable receiver,” “media player,” and/or “televisiontuner.” Accordingly, the receiving device 118 may be any suitableconverter device or electronic equipment that is operable to receiveprogramming. Further, the receiving device 118 may itself include userinterface devices, such as buttons or switches. In many applications, aremote-control device (“remote”) 128 is operable to control thereceiving device 118 and/or the presentation device 120. The remote 128typically communicates with the receiving device 118 using a suitablewireless medium, such as infrared (“IR”), radio frequency (“RF”), or thelike.

Examples of a presentation device 120 include, but are not limited to, atelevision (“TV”), a personal computer (“PC”), a sound system receiver,a digital video recorder (“DVR”), a compact disk (“CD”) device, gamesystem, or the like. Presentation devices 120 employ a display, one ormore speakers, and/or other output devices to communicate video and/oraudio content to a user. In many implementations, one or morepresentation devices 120 reside in or near a customer's premises 116 andare communicatively coupled, directly or indirectly, to the receivingdevice 118. Further, the receiving device 118 and the presentationdevice 120 may be integrated into a single device. Such a single devicemay have the above-described functionality of the receiving device 118and the presentation device 120, or may even have additionalfunctionality.

A content provider 104 provides program content, such as televisioncontent or audio content, to a distributor, such as the programdistributor 106. Example content providers include television stationswhich provide local or national television programming, special contentproviders which provide premium based programming or pay-per-viewprogramming, or radio stations which provide audio programming.

Program content, interchangeably referred to as a program, iscommunicated to the program distributor 106 from the content provider104 through suitable communication media, generally illustrated ascommunication system 108 for convenience. Communication system 108 mayinclude many different types of communication media, now known or laterdeveloped. Non-limiting media examples include telephony systems, theInternet, internets, intranets, cable systems, fiber optic systems,microwave systems, asynchronous transfer mode (“ATM”) systems, framerelay systems, digital subscriber line (“DSL”) systems, radio frequency(“RF”) systems, and satellite systems.

In at least one embodiment, the received program content is converted bythe program distributor 106 into a suitable signal (a “program signal”)that is communicated (i.e., “uplinked”) by one or more antennae 110 toone or more satellites 112 (separately illustrated herein from, althoughconsidered part of, the communication system 108). The communicateduplink signal may contain a plurality of multiplexed programs. Theuplink signal is received by the satellite 112 and then communicated(i.e., “downlinked”) from the satellite 112 in one or more directions,for example, onto a predefined portion of the planet.

A receiver antenna 114 that is within reception range of the downlinksignal communicated from satellite 112 receives the above-describeddownlink signal. A wide variety of receiver antennae 114 are available.Some types of receiver antenna 114 are operable to receive signals froma single satellite 112. Other types of receiver antenna 114 are operableto receive signals from multiple satellites 112 and/or from terrestrialbased transmitters. In some embodiments, antenna 114 is a terrestrial“over-the-air” (“OTA”) broadcast antenna that is configured to receive aprogram signal from a terrestrial based transmitter, such as broadcasttransmit tower. Furthermore, in some cases, the receiving device 118 isoperable to receive signals from multiple, distinct antennas.

The receiver antenna 114 can be located at customer premises 116.Examples of customer premises 116 include a residence, a business, orany other suitable location operable to receive signals from satellite112. The received signal is communicated, typically over a hard-wireconnection, to a receiving device 118. The receiving device 118 convertsthe received signal from antenna 114 into a signal and/or formatsuitable for communication to a presentation device 120 or anotherdevice, such as a digital video recorder or a home computing system. Insome embodiments, the receiver antenna 114 may be remotely located fromthe customer premises 116. For example, the antenna 114 may be locatedon the roof of an apartment building, such that the received signals maybe transmitted, after possible recoding, via cable or other mechanisms,such as Wi-Fi, to the customer premises 116.

The receiving device 118 may receive programming partially from, orentirely from, another source other than the above-described receiverantenna 114. Other embodiments of the receiving device 118 may receiveprogramming from program distributors 106 and/or content providers 104via locally broadcast RF signals, cable, fiber optic, Internet media, orthe like.

In addition, information provider 138 may provide various forms ofcontent and/or services to various devices residing in the customerpremises 116. For example, information provider 138 may provide a Webpage (or other information) to the receiving device 118 or othercomputing device. Information provider 138 may further perform orfacilitate electronic commerce transactions.

In the illustrated example, the recording manager 100 operates upon thereceiving device 118. The recording manager 100 is configured to detecta disruption in a program received and recorded by the receiving device118. Program disruptions may occur for various reasons, including poorweather conditions (e.g., high winds, cloud cover) and/or obstructions(e.g., trees) that degrade/attenuate one or more characteristics (e.g.,power, consistency, or regularity) of the program signal received by theantenna 114. Program disruptions include program signal disruptionsoccurring for other reasons, such as service outages or faults in thesatellite 112, uplink antenna 110, program distributor 106, contentprovider 104, or the communication system 108 generally. Programdisruptions may also occur due to outages or faults that are local tothe receiving device 118 and/or customer premises 116, such as recordingmedia (e.g., disk) errors, memory faults, software errors, resourceconstraints (e.g., insufficient processing power, processor throughput,disk bandwidth, or the like), local network outages, local poweroutages, and the like.

The recording manager 100 is further configured to, in response to adetected disruption in a program recorded as a first recording, record alater transmission of the program as a second recording. As one example,upon detecting a disruption in a particular program, the recordingmanager 100 determines a later (e.g., later in the day or week)broadcast of the program, and schedules a recording to occur at thattime. The recording manager is also configured to notify a user that adisruption has been detected in the first recording, and to provide theuser the option of viewing the second recording as an alternative to thefirst recording.

The above description of the content distribution environment 102 andthe customer premises 116, and the various devices therein, is intendedas a broad, non-limiting overview of an example environment in whichvarious embodiments of a recording manager may be implemented. FIG. 1illustrates just one example of a content distribution environment 102and that the various embodiments discussed herein are not limited tosuch environments. In particular, content distribution environment 102and the various devices therein, may contain other devices, systemsand/or media not specifically described herein.

Example embodiments described herein provide applications, tools, datastructures and other support to implement a recording manager thatfacilitates improved recording of programs received by a receivingdevice. Other embodiments of the described techniques may be used forother purposes, including storage of data transmissions generally. Inthe following description, numerous specific details are set forth, suchas data formats, code sequences, and the like, in order to provide athorough understanding of the described techniques. The embodimentsdescribed also can be practiced without some of the specific detailsdescribed herein, or with other specific details, such as changes withrespect to the ordering of the code flow, different code flows, and thelike. Thus, the scope of the techniques and/or functions described arenot limited by the particular order, selection, or decomposition ofsteps described with reference to any particular module, component, orroutine.

B. Example Recording Manager Overview

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating example functional elements of anexample embodiment. In particular, FIG. 2 shows an example recordingmanager 100 executing on a receiving device 118. The illustratedreceiving device 118, which may be a set-top box, is communicativelycoupled to a presentation device 120 and to a program distributor 106via communication system 108. A user 220 operates the receiving device118 and/or the presentation device 120 using remote-control device 128.The recording manager 100 includes logic 202, program information 204, afirst recording 206, and a second recording 208. Program information 204includes program schedule information for programs scheduled forbroadcast/transmission by the program distributor 106.

In a typical example, the user 220 interacts with the recording manager100 to initiate recording of a program transmitted by the programdistributor 106 to the receiving device 118. Initiating recordingincludes specifying a recording event, which specifies parameters, suchas channel, begin time (e.g., current time or some future time), andduration, that are used by the recording manager 100 to record thedesired program. As discussed with respect to FIG. 1, above, the programmay be transmitted as a program signal to the receiving device 118 invarious ways, such as via a satellite network, cable network,terrestrial broadcast, or the like. As the program signal is received bythe receiving device 118, the recording manager 100 stores the receivedprogram as the first recording 206. For example, a tuner and/or selectorof the receiving device 118 extracts program data portions (e.g., videoand/or audio data portions) from the received program signal and providethose data portions to the recording manager 100. The recording manager100 then stores the received data portions as the first recording 206.

The recording manager 100 is configured to detect disruptions in theprogram recorded as the first recording 206. In one embodiment, therecording manager 100 detects a disruption at the program signal level,such as by monitoring the quality (e.g., strength or energy) of theprogram signal received by the receiving device 118. When the strengthof the program signal drops below a specified threshold level, therecording manager 100 stores an indication that a program disruption hasbeen detected. In another embodiment, the recording manager 100 detectsa disruption at the program level, by monitoring the quality of thevideo and/or audio provided by an audio/video processor (e.g., acomponent that is responsible for decompressing and/or formattingprogram data carried by the received program signal) of the receivingdevice 118. When the program video or audio becomes degraded (e.g., asindicated by video/audio dropouts, video pixilation, audio distortion,or the like), the recording manager 100 stores an indication that aprogram disruption has been detected.

The recording manager 100 may detect program disruptions at varioustimes. In one embodiment, the recording manager 100 detects disruptionsconcurrently with the receiving and/or recording of the first recording206. In another embodiment, the recording manager 100 detectsdisruptions after the program has been received and recorded, such as bypost-processing the stored first recording 206.

If the recording manager 100 detects a disruption in the programrecorded as the first recording 206, the recording manager 100automatically determines a retransmission of the program occurring at alater time. Determining a retransmission of the program includesprocessing program information 204. In particular, the recording manager100 searches the program information 204 for scheduling information thatindicates a retransmission of the program. The retransmission may becurrently in progress or be occurring at some time in the future.

The recording manager 100 then initiates recording of the determinedretransmission of the program as the second recording 208. Initiatingrecording of the retransmission of the program includes scheduling arecording event to occur at a time corresponding to the retransmissionof the program. In some cases, such as when the program is beingcurrently re-transmitted, the recording manager commences recording ofthe program immediately.

The recording manager 100 is also configured to notify the user 220 ofthe detected program disruption. Notifying the user 220 includesdisplaying a user interface screen 210 on the presentation device 120.The user interface screen 210 includes a message 212 indicating that adisruption was detected in a transmission/recording of a particularprogram and that a second recording 208 is available for viewing.Typically, the message 212 is displayed at or about the time when theuser 220 indicates a desire to view the program recorded as the firstrecording 206. However, the user 220 may be notified of the disruptionat other times, such as when the user 220 operates the receiving device118 for the first time after the disruption is detected.

Under certain circumstances, the recording manager 100 may elect not toinitiate a recording of a retransmission of a prior program. In oneembodiment, the recording manager 100 records a retransmission of aprior program only when the detected disruption is sufficiently severe,such as when an outage of the program signal or other disruption isdetected that is longer than a specified time interval (e.g., fiveseconds). In another embodiment, the recording manager 100 records aretransmission of a prior program only when the user 220 has directedthe recording manager 100 to do so (e.g., by responding to aquery/prompt from the recording manager 100). In some embodiments, therecording manager 100 elects not to record a retransmission of a priorprogram when the only disruptions occur during commercial breaks,because typical users may not be bothered by such disruptions. Inaddition, at least some of the above conditional behaviors may beconfigured and/or specified via user interface controls, as describedfurther with respect to FIG. 3B, below.

In addition, in some embodiments, the recording manager 100 may notrecord an entire retransmission of a prior program. In one embodiment,the recording manager 100 is configured to only record the portion ofthe retransmission corresponding to the disrupted portion of the firstrecording 206. For example, if a program signal outage was detectedduring the fifth minute of the first recording 206, the recordingmanager 100 may elect to only record (as recording 208) the fifth minuteof the retransmission of the program. In such cases, the recordingmanager 100, may then combine or otherwise merge the recorded portion ofthe retransmission with the first recording 206. In some embodiments,the recording manager 100 will only merge the recorded portion of theretransmission with the first recording 206 when the recorded portionand the first recording 206 are both of the same data standard orformat, such as standard definition, high definition, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, orthe like.

C. Example Recording Manager Aspects

FIGS. 3A-3C are block diagrams illustrating example user interfaces of,and program information used in, example embodiments. In particular,FIGS. 3A-3B are block diagrams illustrating example user interfacesprovided by example embodiments. FIG. 3C illustrates example programinformation used by example embodiments.

FIG. 3A shows a user interface screen 310 displayed upon a presentationdevice 120. The screen 310 includes a message 302 and user-selectablecontrols 306 a-306 c. The message 302 is an example message displayed bya recording manager 100 in response to a received indication that a userdesires to view a disrupted recorded program. In particular, message 302indicates that a disruption was detected during a recording of a programtitled “TV Show XYZ,” transmitted starting at 7PM on Jun. 29, 2009. Themessage 302 further notifies the user that the program has beenre-recorded, and prompts the user to select the original or laterrecording for viewing. The user-selectable controls 306 a-306 c arebuttons that can be activated/selected by the user to respectively viewthe first (disrupted) recording of the program, the second(retransmission) recording of the program, or access settings of therecording manager 100.

Other user interface features/controls are contemplated. For example,details regarding the nature of the disruption may be provided (e.g.,signal outage lasting five seconds). Also, in some cases, both the firstand second recordings may include disruptions. In such circumstances,the recording manager 100 may evaluate the quality of each of the tworecordings, and provide via message 302 an indication of the comparativequality of the two recordings and/or a suggestion to view one of the tworecordings based on that recording having the higher quality level.Other controls may be included to provide access to other functions,such as deleting a recording, merging/combining recordings, and thelike.

In addition, other techniques for notifying the user of the disruptionare contemplated. In one embodiment, the recording manager 100 may senda message, such as an email, text message, or the like, to interact withthe user in various ways, such as notifying the user of the disruption,requesting permission to record a retransmission of a prior program, andthe like.

FIG. 3B shows user interface screen 320 displayed upon a presentationdevice 120. The screen 320 includes various user-selectable controls 312that can be activated by a user to control or specify theoperation/behavior of the recording manager 100. In particular, thecontrols 312 include controls 312 a-312 d for specifying triggers forrecording retransmissions of prior programs. In particular, checkbox 312a directs the recording manager 100 to always record retransmissions ofprior programs. Checkbox 312 b directs the recording manager 100 to onlyrecord retransmissions of prior programs that are disrupted for morethan a specified time interval (set to 30 seconds in this example).Checkbox 312 c directs the recording manager 100 to detect commercialsfor purposes of determining whether to record a retransmission of aprior program having disrupted commercials. Checkbox 312 d directs therecording manager 100 to record retransmissions of prior programs inwhich disruptions occur during commercials, as compared to a defaultbehavior of ignoring disruptions that occur during commercial breaks andonly recording retransmissions of prior programs that are disruptedduring regular programming. The controls 312 also include controls 312e-312 f for specifying actions to take with disrupted recordings, suchas checkbox 312 e directing the recording manager 100 to always deletedisrupted recordings and checkbox 312 f directing the recording manager100 to automatically choose the best recording, when multiple recordingsof one program all have some form of disruption. In addition, thecontrols 312 include checkbox 312 g for establishing priority ofrecording retransmissions over otherwise scheduled recordings. Whencheckbox 312 g is checked and when a retransmission of a prior programoccurs at the same time as an otherwise scheduled recording, therecording manager 100 will elect to record the retransmission of theprior program in preference to performing the otherwise scheduledrecording. In other embodiments, other techniques may be used to resolvescheduling conflicts, such as requesting the user to indicate theirpreference (e.g., via a dialog presented on the presentation device 120)on a case-by-case basis.

FIG. 3C illustrates example program information used by an exampleembodiment. The example program information is arranged in a table 330comprising rows 334 a-334 j. Each row specifies a program record thatprovides information about a particular program, the informationorganized into fields 332 a-332 f. Fields 332 a-332 e respectivelyincludes a program identifier, a channel number, a program title, astart time, and a duration. Field 332 f indicates that in otherembodiments, additional information may be included.

The recording manager 100 utilizes program information such as thatshown in table 330 to determine a retransmission of a prior program. Forexample, suppose a disruption occurs during recording of “Sitcom 1,”transmitted between 12:30 and 1:00 PM on Jun. 30, 2009, as representedin row 334 a. In response to the disruption, the recording manager 100searches the program information of table 320 for a retransmission ofthe prior program, indicated by a program having the same identifier(3439) as the prior program. Finding such a program in row 334 e, therecording manager 100 schedules a recording to take place during thetransmission time interval specified by fields 332 d and 332 e of row334 e (between 5:30 and 6:00 PM on Jul. 2, 2009).

In some cases, the recording manager 100 cannot find a retransmission ofa prior program in the program information. In one embodiment, therecording manager 100 will elect to record a later-transmitted programthat is related to the prior program. For example, daily news programssuch as the evening news are typically not re-transmitted. If arecording of an evening news program (occurring at 6:00PM) wasdisrupted, the recording manager 100 may record another news program,such as the nightly news (occurring at 11:00PM). In another embodiment,the recording manager 100 will store an indication that a retransmissionof a particular program was not found, such that the recording manager100 can search again at a later time, such as when the programinformation is updated with information about additional futureprograms.

In other embodiments, the information shown in table 330 may berepresented in other ways. For example, rather than specifying a starttime and duration, a program record (row) could specify start and endtimes. Other information, such as reviews, ratings, summaries, and thelike, may also be represented.

D. Example Computing System Implementation

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a computing system for practicing exampleembodiments of a recording manager. FIG. 4 shows a receiving devicecomputing system 400 that may be utilized to implement a recordingmanager 100. In one embodiment, the receiving device computing system400 is part of a set-top box configured to receive and displayprogramming on a presentation device. In other embodiments, thereceiving device computing system 400 is part of a presentation device,such as a television.

Note that one or more general purpose or special purpose computingsystems/devices may be used to implement the recording manager 100. Inaddition, the computing system 400 may comprise one or more distinctcomputing systems/devices and may span distributed locations.Furthermore, each block shown may represent one or more such blocks asappropriate to a specific embodiment or may be combined with otherblocks. Also, the recording manager 100 may be implemented in software,hardware, firmware, or in some combination to achieve the capabilitiesdescribed herein.

In the embodiment shown, receiving device computing system 400 comprisesa computer memory (“memory”) 401, a display 402, one or more CentralProcessing Units (“CPU”) 403, Input/Output devices 404 (e.g., keyboard,mouse, CRT or LCD display, and the like), other computer-readable media405, and network connections 406. The recording manager 100 is shownresiding in memory 401. In other embodiments, some portion of thecontents, some of, or all of the components of the recording manager 100may be stored on and/or transmitted over the other computer-readablemedia 405. The components of the recording manager 100 preferablyexecute on one or more CPUs 403 and facilitate the recording ofretransmissions of prior programming, as described herein. Other code orprograms 430 (e.g., an audio/video processing module, a program guidemanager module, a Web server, and the like) and potentially other datarepositories, such as data repository 420, also reside in the memory401, and preferably execute on one or more CPUs 403. Of note, one ormore of the components in FIG. 4 may not be present in any specificimplementation. For example, some embodiments may not provide othercomputer readable media 405 or a display 402.

In a typical embodiment, the recording manager 100 includes a recordingscheduler 411, a recording assessor 412, a user interface manager 413, adata repository 415 that includes recorded programs, and a datarepository 416 that includes program information. Other and/or differentmodules may be implemented. The recording manager 100 interacts via anetwork 450 with home recording device 460 (e.g., a digital videorecorder), program distributor 106, and home computing system 465 (e.g.,a desktop computer, a laptop computer).

The recording scheduler 411 provides the recording and schedulingfunctions of the recording manager 100. For example, the recordingscheduler 411 tracks, initiates, and performs scheduled recordings, bydirecting program content received by the computing system 400 duringparticular time intervals to be stored in data repository 415. Therecording scheduler 411 is also configured to search the programinformation in data repository 416 to determine and schedule recordingsretransmissions of particular (e.g., disrupted) programs.

The recording assessor 412 provides the disruption detection and/orquality assessment functions of the recording manager 100. The recordingassessor 412 inspects the characteristics of a program signal receivedby the computing system 400, to determine whether the program signal isdisrupted/degraded. In addition, the recording assessor 412 processesprograms stored in the data repository 415 during or after theirrecording, to determine whether any disruptions have occurred or todetermine a quality level for a recorded program. A quality level may bea numeric indicator that rates the video and/or audio quality of aparticular recording. When the recording assessor 412 detects adisruption in a program, it directs the recording scheduler 411 todetermine and schedule a recording of a retransmission of the program.

The user interface manager 413 provides a view and a controller thatfacilitate user interaction with the recording manager 100 and itsvarious components. For example, the user interface manager 413 providesinteractive graphical user interface screens such as those describedwith respect to FIGS. 3A-3B. As discussed, such user interface screensnotify the user of disruptions, provide the user with the option ofviewing an alternate recording of a program, and provide the user withcontrols for specifying the operation of the recording manager 100. Theuser interface manager 413 also receives input from a user (e.g., in theform of user interface events) and translates those inputs into theappropriate command for initiation by the recording manager 100.

In some embodiments, the recording manager includes an applicationprogram interface (“API”) that provides programmatic access to one ormore functions of the recording manager 100. For example, such an APImay provide a programmatic interface to one or more functions of therecording manager 100 that may be invoked by one of the other programs430 or some other module. In this manner, the API may facilitate thedevelopment of third-party software, such as user interfaces, plug-ins,adapters (e.g., for integrating functions of the recording manager 100into desktop applications), and the like.

In addition, the API may be in at least some embodiments invoked orotherwise accessed via remote entities, such as the home recordingdevice 460, the program distributor 106, or the computing system 465, toaccess various functions of the recording manager 100. For example, auser operating the computing system 465 may schedule a recording to bemade by the recording manager 100 via the API.

The data repository 415 stores one or more recorded programs received bythe computing system 400, such as the first and second recordings 206and 208 described with respect to FIG. 2. When a user indicates a desireto view a recorded program, the recording manager 100 initiates playbackof the recorded program from the data repository 415.

The data repository 416 stores program information such as thatdescribed with respect to FIG. 3C. As discussed, such information mayinclude program identifiers, titles, times, ratings, commentary, andother metadata. The recording manager 100, and in particular therecording scheduler 411, utilizes the program information to scheduleprograms and to determine if and when programs will be re-transmitted.

In some embodiments, the recording manager 100 interacts with the homerecording device 460 and/or the home computing system 465 for variouspurposes. For example, the recording manager 100 may schedule arecording to be made by the home recording device 460, such as when therecording manager 100 has multiple recording events scheduled for thesame or overlapping time period. In other cases, such as when data store415 has reached its maximum capacity or the computing system 400 isitself not configured to record programs, the recording manager 100 mayutilize the home recording device 460 to store recorded programs.

In an example embodiment, components/modules of the recording manager100 are implemented using standard programming techniques. For example,the recording manager 100 may be implemented as a “native” executablerunning on the CPU 403, along with one or more static or dynamiclibraries. In other embodiments, the recording manager 100 may beimplemented as instructions processed by a virtual machine that executesas one of the other programs 430. In general, a range of programminglanguages known in the art may be employed for implementing such exampleembodiments, including representative implementations of variousprogramming language paradigms, including but not limited to,object-oriented (e.g., Java, C++, C#, Visual Basic.NET, Smalltalk, andthe like), functional (e.g., ML, Lisp, Scheme, and the like), procedural(e.g., C, Pascal, Ada, Modula, and the like), scripting (e.g., Perl,Ruby, Python, JavaScript, VBScript, and the like), declarative (e.g.,SQL, Prolog, and the like).

In a software or firmware implementation, instructions stored in amemory configure, when executed, one or more processors of the computingsystem 400 to perform the functions of the recording manager 100. In oneembodiment, instructions cause the CPU 403 or some other processor, suchas an I/O controller/processor, to record programs, such as by consumingprogram data and writing it to a disk or other storage device, byinitiating a suitable DMA operation, or the like. Similarly, the CPU 403or other processor may be configured to perform other operations such asdetecting disruptions, scheduling recordings, and the like.

The embodiments described above may also use well-known or proprietarysynchronous or asynchronous client-server computing techniques. However,the various components may be implemented using more monolithicprogramming techniques as well, for example, as an executable running ona single CPU computer system, or alternatively decomposed using avariety of structuring techniques known in the art, including but notlimited to, multiprogramming, multithreading, client-server, orpeer-to-peer, running on one or more computer systems each having one ormore CPUs. Some embodiments may execute concurrently and asynchronously,and communicate using message passing techniques. Equivalent synchronousembodiments are also supported by an recording manager implementation.Also, other functions could be implemented and/or performed by eachcomponent/module, and in different orders, and by differentcomponents/modules, yet still achieve the functions of the recordingmanager.

In addition, programming interfaces to the data stored as part of therecording manager 100, such as in the data repositories 415-416, can beavailable by standard mechanisms such as through C, C++, C#, and JavaAPIs; libraries for accessing files, databases, or other datarepositories; through scripting languages such as XML; or through Webservers, FTP servers, or other types of servers providing access tostored data. The data repositories 415-416 may be implemented as one ormore database systems, file systems, or any other technique for storingsuch information, or any combination of the above, includingimplementations using distributed computing techniques.

Different configurations and locations of programs and data arecontemplated for use with techniques of described herein. A variety ofdistributed computing techniques are appropriate for implementing thecomponents of the illustrated embodiments in a distributed mannerincluding but not limited to TCP/IP sockets, RPC, RMI, HTTP, WebServices (XML-RPC, JAX-RPC, SOAP, and the like). Other variations arepossible. Also, other functionality could be provided by eachcomponent/module, or existing functionality could be distributed amongstthe components/modules in different ways, yet still achieve thefunctions of an recording manager.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, some or all of the components of therecording manager 100 may be implemented or provided in other manners,such as at least partially in firmware and/or hardware, including, butnot limited to one or more application-specific integrated circuits(“ASICs”), standard integrated circuits, controllers (e.g., by executingappropriate instructions, and including microcontrollers and/or embeddedcontrollers), field-programmable gate arrays (“FPGAs”), complexprogrammable logic devices (“CPLDs”), and the like. Some or all of thesystem components and/or data structures may also be stored as contents(e.g., as executable or other machine-readable software instructions orstructured data) on a computer-readable medium (e.g., as a hard disk; amemory; a computer network or cellular wireless network or other datatransmission medium; or a portable media article to be read by anappropriate drive or via an appropriate connection, such as a DVD orflash memory device) so as to enable or configure the computer-readablemedium and/or one or more associated computing systems or devices toexecute or otherwise use or provide the contents to perform at leastsome of the described techniques. Some or all of the system componentsand data structures may also be stored as data signals (e.g., by beingencoded as part of a carrier wave or included as part of an analog ordigital propagated signal) on a variety of computer-readabletransmission mediums, which are then transmitted, including acrosswireless-based and wired/cable-based mediums, and may take a variety offorms (e.g., as part of a single or multiplexed analog signal, or asmultiple discrete digital packets or frames). Such computer programproducts may also take other forms in other embodiments. Accordingly,embodiments of this disclosure may be practiced with other computersystem configurations.

E. Processes

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of an example recording manager processprovided by one example embodiment. In particular, FIG. 5 illustratesprocess 500 that may be implemented by, for example, one or moremodules/components of the recording manager 100 executing on thereceiving device 118, as described with respect to FIGS. 2 and 4.

The illustrated process 500 starts at 502. At 504, the process records aprogram as a first recording. The first recording may be recording 206described with respect to FIG. 2, and stored in data repository 415described with respect to FIG. 4.

At 506, the process detects a disruption in the program recorded as thefirst recording. Detecting the disruption may include detectingdegraded/disrupted audio and/or video of the first recording. Detectingthe disruption may also include detecting a degraded or weak programsignal received by the receiving device 118. Program disruptions aredescribed further with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2.

At 508, the process stores an indication of the disruption of theprogram recorded as the first recording. At 510, the process records arebroadcast of the program as a second recording in response to thestored indication of the disruption of the first recording. Therebroadcast typically occurs at a second time that is later than thetime of the first recording. The second recording may be recording 208described with respect to FIG. 2.

At 512, the process outputs content of one of the first recording or thesecond recording, based at least in part on an input selection receivedfrom a user. For example, the process may notify the user of thedisruption, and prompt the user to select either the first or secondrecording, as described with respect to FIG. 3A.

At 514, the process ends. In other embodiments, the process may insteadcontinue to one of steps 504-512 in order to manage further recordingsand/or handle additional user inputs.

Some embodiments perform one or more operations/aspects in addition tothe ones described with respect to process 500. For example, in oneembodiment, process 500 automatically merges the first and secondrecording in a manner that selects the highest quality portions fromeach of the first and second recording to construct a recording having aminimum of disruptions.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example recording manager processprovided by another example embodiment. In particular, FIG. 6illustrates process 600 that may be implemented by, for example, one ormore modules/components of the recording manager 100 executing on thereceiving device 118, as described with respect to FIGS. 2 and 4.

The illustrated process 600 starts at 602. At 604, the process initiatesrecording of a first transmission of a program, the first transmissionof the program occurring at a first time and recorded as a firstrecording. The first recording may be, for example, the recording 206described with respect to FIG. 2.

At 606, the process detects a disruption in the program recorded as thefirst recording. Detecting the disruption may occur concurrently withthe first transmission and/or after at least some of the recording hasbeen completed. Additional details regarded detecting disruptions areprovided with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2.

At 608, the process determines a second transmission of the program, thesecond transmission occurring at a second time that is after the firsttime. Determining the second transmission may include searching programinformation as described with respect to FIG. 3C.

At 610, the process initiates recording of at least some of the secondtransmission of the program as a second recording. In some cases, theentire second transmission is recorded. However, in other cases, onlysome portion or portions of the second transmission is recorded. Forexample, these portions may correspond to the disrupted portions of thefirst recording, such that the recording manager can conserve storage(e.g., disk space).

At 612, the process ends. In other embodiments, the process may insteadcontinue to one of steps 604-610 in order to manage further recordingsand/or handle additional user inputs.

Some embodiments perform one or more operations/aspects in addition tothe ones described with respect to process 600. For example, in oneembodiment, process 600 automatically “patches” the first recording withthe recorded portions of the second transmission. In another embodiment,process 600 automatically deletes the first recording or some portionthereof.

While various embodiments have been described hereinabove, it is to beappreciated that various changes in form and detail may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention(s) presently orhereafter claimed.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method in a set-top box for recording aretransmission of a prior program, the method comprising: recording aprogram as a first recording; detecting a disruption in the programrecorded as the first recording; storing an indication of the disruptionof the program recorded as the first recording; determining to record asecond transmission of the program as a second recording based at leaston the detected disruption in the first recording, the second recordingbeing in addition to and separate from the first recording; andrecording the second transmission of the program; determining a qualitylevel associated with each of the first and second recording; providing,via a message, the quality level of each of the first and secondrecording to a user; and outputting content of one of the firstrecording or the second recording, based at least in part on an inputselection between the first recording and the second recording receivedfrom a user.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the disruption in theprogram recorded as the first recording is detected while the program isbeing broadcast and the first recording is being stored.
 3. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: notifying the user of the detecteddisruption in the program recorded as the first recording; and notifyingthe user of an option to view the program recorded as the secondrecording.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting afirst graphical user interface including a first plurality ofuser-selectable controls, the first plurality of user-selectablecontrols indicating triggers for repeat recording; receiving a firstinput from a user, the input being a selection of at least one of thefirst plurality of user-selectable controls, wherein determining torecord the second transmission of the program as a second recording isbased at least on the first input.
 5. The method of claim 1 whereindetecting the disruption in the program recorded as the first recordingincludes detecting an audio disruption in the first recording.
 6. Themethod of claim 1 wherein detecting the disruption in the programrecorded as the first recording includes detecting a video disruption inthe first recording.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the programrecorded as the first recording is received via a program signal, andwherein detecting the disruption in the program recorded as the firstrecording includes determining whether a strength of the program signalis below a predetermined threshold level.
 8. The method of claim 1,further comprising presenting a second graphical user interfaceincluding a second plurality of user-selectable controls, the secondplurality of user-selectable controls indicating available contents forviewing; receiving a second input from the user, and outputting contentof one of the first recording and the second recording.
 9. A receivingdevice configured to record a retransmission of a program, the receivingdevice comprising: a processor configured to: record, at a first time, aprogram as a first recording; detect a disruption in the programrecorded as the first recording; in response to detecting thedisruption, determine a rebroadcast of the program, the rebroadcastoccurring at a second time that is later than the first time; determineto record, at the second time, the program as a second recording basedat least on the detected disruption, the second recording being inaddition to and separate from the first recording; determining a qualitylevel associated with each of the first and second recording; providing,via a message, the quality level of each of the first and secondrecording to a user; and output program content of one of the firstrecording and the second recording, based at least on an input selectionbetween the first recording and the second recording received from theuser.
 10. The receiving device of claim 9 wherein the processor isfurther configured to: present a first graphical user interfaceincluding a first plurality of user-selectable controls, the firstplurality of user-selectable controls indicating triggers for repeatrecording, and receive a first input from the user, the first inputbeing a selection of at least one of the first plurality ofuser-selectable controls, wherein the processor determines to recordbased at least on the first input.
 11. The receiving device of claim 9wherein the processor is further configured to: notify the user of thedisruption in the program recorded as the first recording.
 12. Thereceiving device of claim 9 wherein the first recording includes anaudio and a video portion, and wherein at least one of the audio portionand the video portion is degraded.
 13. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium having contents that enable a receivingdevice to record a retransmission of a program, by performing a methodcomprising: initiating recording of a first transmission of a program,the first transmission of the program occurring at a first time andrecorded as a first recording; detecting a disruption in the programrecorded as the first recording; and in response to the detecteddisruption in the program recorded as the first recording, determining asecond transmission of the program, the second transmission occurring ata second time that is after the first time; and initiating recording ofat least some of the second transmission of the program as a secondrecording based at least on the detected disruption, the secondrecording being in addition to and separate from the first recording;determining a quality level associated with each of the first and secondrecording; providing, via a message, the quality level of each of thefirst and second recording to a user; and outputting content of one ofthe first recording or the second recording, based at least in part onan input selection between the first recording and the second recordingreceived from a user.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 13 wherein the outputting content of one of the firstrecording or the second recording, based at least in part on an inputselection between the first recording and the second recording receivedfrom the user comprises: notifying the user of the detected disruptionin the program recorded as the first recording; notifying the user ofthe second recording; receiving from the user an indication to vieweither the first recording or the second recording; and initiatingpresentation of either the first recording or the second recording,based on the received indication.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein the method furthercomprises presenting a first graphical user interface including a firstplurality of user-selectable controls, the first plurality ofuser-selectable controls indicating triggers for repeat recording, andreceiving a first input from the user, the first input selecting atleast some of the first plurality of user-selectable controls, whereininitiating recording of at least some of the second transmission of theprogram as a second recording is based at least on the first input. 16.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 whereinthe user preference is determined based on a selection of at least oneof the first plurality of user-selectable controls.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 whereindetecting the disruption in the program recorded as the first recordingincludes processing the first recording for audio/video disruptionsafter the first transmission of the program is completed.